1. Field
A cold water generating apparatus to cool water for drinking is provided.
2. Background
A water purifier may be an apparatus that filters water, such as, e.g., tap water or service water, supplied from a water supply source via physical and chemical methods to remove impurities therefrom and supply purified water. Water purifiers may be classified as, e.g., a natural filtration type, a direct filtration type, an ion-exchange resin type, a distillatory type, and a reverse osmosis type, according to a water purification principle or a water purification method. A water purifier may include a storage type water purifier that stores water purified through a filter in a storage tank and may heat or cool the purified water upon discharge from the tank, and a direct type water purifier that may heat or cool water purified through a filter and discharge the purified water without a storage tank.
A related art water purifier may cool water accommodated in a cold water tank using a refrigerating cycle. In a refrigerating cycle system, an evaporator in which refrigerant flows may be provided within or outside of a cold water tank to cool water accommodated in the cold water tank. However, since the refrigerating cycle system requires a compressor, a condenser, and an expansion valve or a capillary, as well as an evaporator, the refrigerating cycle system has a complicated configuration and may occupy a large installation space, such that it may be difficult to reduce a size of a water purifier.
When power is applied to a thermoelectric element, heat may be transmitted from one side of the thermoelectric element to another side thereof. Thus, a cold water tank may be cooled by simply connecting a power source to the thermoelectric element, and in this case, since an evaporator, a compressor, a condenser, may not be required, a configuration of such an apparatus may be simple and an installation space thereof may be reduced, compared with existing refrigerating cycle systems.
FIG. 9 is a conceptual view of a related art water cooling apparatus that cools a cold water tank using a thermoelectric element. One side of a thermoelectric element 4 may be in contact with a cold block 2 connected to a cold water tank 1, and another side of the thermoelectric element 4 may be in contact with a heat block 3 having a fan 6. When the thermoelectric element 4 is driven, heat may be transmitted from water in the cold water tank 1 to the cold block 2, the thermoelectric element 4, and the heat block 3, and, due to a temperature difference between one side and the other side of the thermoelectric element 4, the cold block 2 may become cold and the heat block 3 may become hot. Heat transmitted to the heat block 3 may be heat-exchanged with air introduced to the heat block 3 from outside according to driving of the fan 6 so as to be outwardly dissipated, cooling the water in the cold water tank 1.
The cold block 2 and the heat block 3 may be connected and fastened to each other by a plurality of fasteners 5, such as screws, adhered to the outside of the cold water tank 1. However, when the cold block 2 and the heat block 3 are heat-exchanged through the fastener 5 connecting the cold block 2 and the heat block 3, some of the heat to be dissipated outside of the heat block 3 may be re-transmitted to the cold block 2 through the fastener 5 (e.g., a screw). Heat transmission to the cold block 2 may increase a temperature of the cold block 2, degrading cooling performance.